Subediting

A guide to help potential contributors develop their skills.

If you are considering contributing to Exeter Observer please see our contributors guide.

More contributor guides:

Subediting actions

Rewriting copy to improve structure
Editing copy to improve style
Correcting spelling and grammar
Checking factual accuracy
Writing headlines and standfirsts
Writing image captions
Choosing pullquotes and dropcaps
Creating infoboxes
Cropping/resizing/compressing photos
Embedding photos and videos inc. descriptive text
Confirming and including photo/video licensing info
Ensuring markup/down is correctly formatted esp. links, inverted commas, italics, bold
Removing superfluous formatting e.g. double spaces
Enhancing SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Identifying potential defamation risks.

cf. What do subeditors do?

Subediting method

Read from start to finish (out loud if possible), matching pace of first-time reader to get overall picture, identify structural errors/weaknesses etc.
- do paragraphs flow in ideal sequence, following points set up in previous paragraph, with strong linking sentences?
- does clear narrative thread run throughout piece that addressed central points/arguments?
- do headline and standfirst accurately represent content?
- does wrap-up draw all necessary threads together and provide satisfactory conclusion?
Edit for structure
Edit for style
Check facts/names/claims etc.
Check links

(i) use:

when explanation or definition required
to give context or background
for attribution of source content
when copyright license required
for navigation to related material

(ii) embed:

within a sentence
using uniquely descriptive text, ideally containing keywords
concisely, with no more words than are necessary for an accurate description
NEVER using click here, read more etc.

NB the above does not consider print publication issues e.g. fitting copy into layout, removing widows/orphans etc.

Recent stories

Harlequins revised redevelopment scheme illustrative elevation

News ⁄ Planning & place

Harlequins developer plans to scrap hotel to build second "co-living" block on shopping centre site

Existing planning approval will be factor in decision to return to earlier, rejected, vision which would mean 378 studios and "cluster flat" rooms along Paul Street.

Positive Light Projects - Sidwell Street entrance

Analysis ⁄ Arts & culture

Positive Light Projects opens community arts centre despite CityPoint redevelopment threat

Parts of Exeter city centre are experiencing an unplanned renaissance as small shops and cultural venues move in to fill empty units on Paris Street and Sidwell Street, but uncertainty remains as the council still plans to demolish and redevelop.

New Haven Field in Exeter's Riverside Valley Park

Analysis ⁄ Planning & place

River Exe green spaces and heritage harbour site threatened by "Liveable Exeter" development scheme

Exeter Civic Society and Green, Liberal Democrat and Independent councillors raise alarm at prospect of Exeter City Council development in river valley park and historic canal basin.

Extinction Rebellion climate activist Imogen May

News ⁄ Climate & environment

Environmental activist Imogen May defiant after second liability order for non-payment of council tax

Extinction Rebellion demonstrated at Exeter Law Courts in support of Crediton lone parent who has withheld council tax for two years in protest over government climate crisis inaction.

Clydesdale, Nash and Birks Grange Village redevelopment illustrative elevations

Analysis ⁄ Planning & place

University drops environmental standards for huge student flats development with council approval

University of Exeter and Exeter City Council both ignore own policies in plans to demolish 30 buildings and construct 50,000m2 of new student accommodation, telling us more about their priorities than their climate leadership claims.

Kinder Exeter community festival on Cathedral Green

News ⁄ Community & society

Kinder Exeter community festival brings compassion and colour to city centre

Week-long event bringing artists, academics, students and communities together for online and outdoor activities was first of planned annual festivals facilitated by Maketank artists' collective.

Recent stories

Harlequins revised redevelopment scheme illustrative elevation

Harlequins developer plans to scrap hotel to build second "co-living" block on shopping centre site

Positive Light Projects - Sidwell Street entrance

Positive Light Projects opens community arts centre despite CityPoint redevelopment threat

New Haven Field in Exeter's Riverside Valley Park

River Exe green spaces and heritage harbour site threatened by "Liveable Exeter" development scheme

Extinction Rebellion climate activist Imogen May

Environmental activist Imogen May defiant after second liability order for non-payment of council tax

Clydesdale, Nash and Birks Grange Village redevelopment illustrative elevations

University drops environmental standards for huge student flats development with council approval

Kinder Exeter community festival on Cathedral Green

Kinder Exeter community festival brings compassion and colour to city centre

Never miss a story on Exeter Observer

Help power our public interest journalism

Follow @exeterobserver
on Twitter

Featured stories

Kinder Exeter community festival on Cathedral Green

News ⁄ Community & society

Kinder Exeter community festival brings compassion and colour to city centre

Week-long event bringing artists, academics, students and communities together for online and outdoor activities was first of planned annual festivals facilitated by Maketank artists' collective.

UN Secretary General António Guterres briefs the media

Comment ⁄ Climate & environment

António Guterres on the climate crisis: "We are coming to a point of no return"

An interview with the UN Secretary General on the eve of the G7 summit in Cornwall published as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration.

Devon Pension Fund fossil fuel holdings

Analysis ⁄ Climate & environment

Devon Pension Fund fossil fuel investment position exposed by Shell and BP AGM votes

Shareholder support for Paris Agreement-compatible goals increases but fails to prevent continuing oil and gas exploration, extraction, production or consumption as experts intensify warnings that emissions reductions goals will be missed.

Exeter City Council 2021 election results ballot share percentage by ward

Analysis ⁄ Democracy & governance

Did Exeter's local elections results tell a Labour success story?

Exeter Labour lost just one seat in the city council elections and held all seven of its county hall seats, but on closer inspection its performance was more mixed than these headline results imply.

Centre for Cities Exeter City Monitor graphic

Comment ⁄ Economy & enterprise

Selective use of statistics presents an unbalanced account of Exeter's economic & environmental status

Exeter City Council's Chief Executive uses statistics to show the city in a good light, but in doing so presents a picture which omits important information about the city's true position.

Train at Okehampton Station in 2015

News ⁄ Transport & mobility

Okehampton to Exeter "Dartmoor Line" passenger rail service reinstatement confirmed

£40 million Department for Transport "Restoring your Railway" funding to enable trains every two hours by end of this year, with plans to increase to hourly service during 2022. Stakeholders combine to get South West infrastructure needs onto Whitehall agenda.

Maclaines Warehouses beside Exeter ship canal

Analysis ⁄ Planning & place

Maclaines Warehouses development tests Exeter Heritage Harbour status

Decisions taken behind closed doors in favour of commercial interests threaten maritime and waterway heritage vision for Exeter’s historic quay, canal and canal basin.

Global lockdown pollution level changes

Comment ⁄ Climate & environment

I'm a climate scientist – here's three key things I have learned over a year of COVID

A leading climate scientist's perspective on what the community has learned over the past year about the interactions between the pandemic and the current and future global climate.

Exeter Guildhall needs repairs

Analysis ⁄ Democracy & governance

£37.5 million council maintenance backlog caused by underinvestment to be part-funded by asset sales

Exeter City Council has allowed property assets to deteriorate while prioritising new schemes including the £44 million St Sidwell's Point leisure centre, forcing it to identify assets for sale to pay its outstanding repair bills.

Exeter City Council offices on Paris Street

Analysis ⁄ Democracy & governance

Council pushes back on Liveable Exeter Place Board scrutiny following membership change

Exeter City Council has responded to an enquiry about disproportionate Church of England representation on the Liveable Exeter Place Board by accusing Exeter Observer of promoting a "partisan narrative" and claiming our public interest reporting "bears no resemblance to fact".

Harlequins shopping centre

Analysis ⁄ Planning & place

First Liveable Exeter homes are substandard "warehousing for people" which is student accommodation "in all but name"

Harlequins shopping centre redevelopment approved by Exeter City Council includes 251 co-living units in seven storey tower block despite widespread opposition from conservation charities and community campaigners who have since appealed to the Secretary of State to call in the decision.

St Sidwell's Point development site outline aerial view

Analysis ⁄ Democracy & governance

Exeter City Council executive members take direct control of city planning decisions

Council's executive now possesses majority on city planning committee, with council leader and planning portfolio holder also included despite national guidance, offering basis to challenge decisions and increasing democratic deficit.

Net Zero Exeter 2030 plan proposals vs Exeter territorial emissions vs Exeter carbon footprint bar chart

Analysis ⁄ Climate & environment

Is the "Net Zero" Exeter plan fit for purpose? Part I: Exeter's carbon footprint

Exeter City Futures' carbon reduction plan ignores over a million tonnes of carbon emissions and massively underestimates the challenges facing the city. First in a series examining its flaws by Fridays For Future youth climate activists.

Food retailers at Queen Street Dining in Exeter Guildhall shopping centre

Analysis ⁄ Democracy & governance

Unelected Liveable Exeter Place Board created to oversee city from the shadows

Exeter City Council has convened an unelected board that meets in private, does not publish its discussions or decisions and is taking responsibility for major policies which will determine Exeter's future.

Department for Transport New Road Layout for Social Distancing coronavirus road sign

Analysis ⁄ Transport & mobility

Coronavirus exposes council failure to deliver Exeter transport plans

Devon County Council's failure to deliver overdue Exeter transport strategy and cycling and walking plan has led to an inadequate response to government demands for emergency coronavirus road layout changes.

Pulling Road Pinhoe Exeter zero carbon housing development site plan

Analysis ⁄ Planning & place

Exeter's first "zero carbon" housing development includes 96 car parking spaces for 40 homes

Exeter City Council has approved plans to develop land at Pinhoe with a parking ratio of 2.4 cars per household as part of an "exemplar scheme for future residential development in the city" while accepting that zero carbon construction comes "at a cost to the provision of affordable housing".